Life after Love Island isn’t always what it’s all about, warns former contestant Matthew McNabb

He added: They come out of the show thinking they’ll be superstars and everyone will love them, but that’s not the reality.

“Unless you come out as the number one person, you’re not going to throw everything away.

“You can probably live in the high life for two months, but after that it’s old news. I joined the company at 26, so I’m sure more
mature. I hope that helped. ”

The dating show, which is returning to ITV2 for its ninth series, has come under scrutiny for the mental health of its contestants.

Matthew said trolls were a big culprit for this, but cautioned that the shallower aspects of the lifestyle associated with Love Island were the problem.

“I had offers and invitations, so I could have changed my life so much and gone to VIP nightclubs and lived that extravagant life. said,” he added. .

“You can change your life as much as you want, but I encourage you to be yourself and stick to your values. Much more than trying to cling to life.”

One of the shows he’s keeping an eye on is Ireland’s Dancing With The Stars, which reached the semi-finals last year.

Although he didn’t find romance on Love Island, he did find a girlfriend in professional dance partner Laura Nolan.

“I’m obviously rooting for Laura and Kevin, but I actually knew a lot of this year’s contestants and was watching the show last week,” Matthew said.

“I’m 6’6” and have two left feet, so it was tough for Laura last year. [dancing with me]”

As a former Gaelic football player, Matthew loves going to the gym, but nothing has ‘broken’ his body like practicing Dancing with the Stars.

“The big thing for me was doing it every day for months. We did it for 14 weeks without a break,” he said.

“I was used to lifting heavy weights with high intensity, but it was very repetitive.

“My knee took months to heal, but it was a great experience.”